Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you know, since last November I’ve been serving as Staff Pastor and Mission rep. for LifeChange Action (a non-profit 501c(3) ministry) involved in creatively supporting and engaging in God’s mission within Mexico and Southeast Asia.
I’ve had the immense joy of being involved in what God is doing globally, while at the same time continuing in my call as a pastor by preaching, teaching, evangelizing, and shepherding our 35 staff members. My role has involved several extended ministry trips: December 2016 (Mexico), February (Connecticut), April (Southeast Asia –[country names are omitted due to rising persecution against our Christian brothers and sisters in this region]), and most recently back to Mexico just three weeks ago.
Thank you for praying, encouraging, and supporting my family and I during these seasons of out-of-country mission work. We are so thankful to God for your participation with us in the mission of the gospel.
Here’s a quick recap video of my July trip to Mexico. I had the incredible privilege of visiting three different orphanages, leading a 4-day spiritual renewal conference for our staff, and guiding three adults to saving faith in Jesus Christ! Click the play button below to watch this short video or watch it on YouTube HERE:
Today I am flying from San Diego back home to my little family in Whitsett, NC. The past seven days of ministry in Tijuana and Rosarito, Mexico were absolutely phenomenal. I led a spiritual renewal conference for the staff of LifeChange Action, with the morning sessions on “Life as a Peacemaker” and two evening sessions on following the mission of the Messiah and our oneness/unity as one family, the redeemed of God.
God worked deeply in the MissionTalk staff this past week. Some of our support staff members come from churched backgrounds but are yet unsaved. However, through several individual counseling sessions, three of them (Esteban, Mary, and Carmen) received Christ as their personal Savior… the harvest is ripe here. They were so ready to hear and understand the Gospel. Hallelujah!
We also visited three orphanages: Ninos Con Fe, Catherine’s Kids, and Ninos Con Vision. We went to Catherine’s Kids for a second visit on Friday and had the joy of spending 10am-3pm playing with the beautiful children there. All the ninos and ninas at Catherine’s Kids are developmentally disabled or medically fragile in some way. Such sweet, wonderful children…
I carried Manny (a 10 year old autistic boy) on my shoulders for about an hour. We had some fun with squirt guns and the garden hose out in the courtyard with all the other kiddos, too. And there was a cute, little girl named April who reminded me of our daughter, Everlynn.
I pushed her on the swing and splashed in a little water basin with toys, and helped her walk around the play area. Her story was heart-wrenching. April was born without any disabilities, but her mom injured her so badly that she now is re-learning to walk and talk.
She is just six years old, but the doctors are saying she should be able to fully recover over the next 5-8 years. I think this was the first time I’ve seriously thought about adoption — to give this little girl a home, a family, and the love of Jesus… Something to pray about with Stephanie. 🙂
While most of our personal support is underwritten directly by LifeChange Action, if God is leading you to financially partner with us here’s some basic information:
- Partner with us through making a one-time support gift or a re-occurring donation via our 501(c)(3) non-profit LifeChange Action. Go to LifeChange’s Donate page: https://lifechangeaction.com/donate/and select “Michael & Stephanie” in the “Missionary” dropdown menu.
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3-5)
